GOP moderates

Convinced that hard-right policies won’t help the party regain the U.S. Senate in this year’s mid-term elections, mainstream Republicans are doing everything they can to help moderate candidates who are facing challenges from Tea Party hopefuls and others who hew to hard-right policies. Many say the core principles of the Tea Party -- smaller government and lower taxes -- have been hijacked by candidates who espouse a social agenda that’s not acceptable to average Americans. And they want to stop those candidates.